Isaiah Institute Translation

Sound your sirens, O merchant ships!For Tyrea is laid waste,stripped of warehouse and wharf.On their way from the land of Kittimshall they be informed of it.2 Be dumbfounded, you inhabitants of the isles,who were amply replenishedby the traders of Sidon crossing the seas.3 The grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile,was her source of revenue upon the high seaswhen she became the merchant of nations.

4 Be dismayed, O Sidon, because the Sea,the mighty haven of the Sea, has declared,I no longer labor and bear children!I no longer rear young men or raise virgins!5 When the news of Tyre reaches Egypt,men will be in anguish at the report.

6 Move on to Tarshish lamenting,you inhabitants of the isles.7 Is this your festive city of ancient origin,whose feet led her to settle far-off lands?8 Who devised this stratagem against Tyre,the imperial city,whose traders were princes,whose merchants the world’s celebrities?9 Jehovah of Hosts devised it,to make all glorying in excellence a profanity,and the world’s celebrities an utter execration.

10 Overflow your land like the Nile,O Daughter of Tarshish: the harbor is no more.11 Jehovah will stretch out his hand over the Seaand distress kingdoms;he will give orders concerning the merchant citythat her ports of haven be destroyed.12 He will say, You will frolic no more,O ravished virgin, Daughter of Sidon.Get up and cross over to Kittim,though even there you will find no rest.

13 So too with the land of the Chaldeans,the people who founded Tyreb for shipping.Was it not the Assyrians who set up observatories,exposed its fortifications, and caused her downfall?14 Sound your sirens, O merchant ships;your haven is desolate!

15 In that day Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, the lifetime of a king. And at the end of seventy years, Tyre shall be as the harlot in the song:

16 Take a lyre and go about the town,O forgotten harlot.Play skillfully; sing song after song,that you may be remembered.

17 For after seventy years, Jehovah will revisit Tyre. And she will return to her trade and hire herself out to all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.18 Her merchandise and hire shall be consecrated to Jehovah; it shall not be hoarded or stored up. Her commerce shall provide for those who dwell in the presence of Jehovah, that they may eat their fill and be elegantly clothed.

The port city of Tyre that typifies the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah's hand of punishment, who destroys Greater Babylon and its shipping empire that the port city of Tyre typifies.

red

The port city of Tyre, typifying the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

13

So too with the land of the Chaldeans,the people who founded Tyreb for shipping.Was it not the Assyrians who set up observatories,exposed its fortifications, and caused her downfall?

And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

17

For after seventy years, Jehovah will revisit Tyre. And she will return to her trade and hire herself out to all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

18

Her merchandise and hire shall be consecrated to Jehovah; it shall not be hoarded or stored up. Her commerce shall provide for those who dwell in the presence of Jehovah, that they may eat their fill and be elegantly clothed.

Apocalyptic Commentary

Tyre, the world shipping empire with its magnates, comes to a sudden end in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment.

1 An oracle concerning Tyre:

Sound your sirens, O merchant ships!For Tyrea is laid waste,stripped of warehouse and wharf.On their way from the land of Kittimshall they be informed of it.

The port city of Tyre that typifies the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah's hand of punishment, who destroys Greater Babylon and its shipping empire that the port city of Tyre typifies.

red

The port city of Tyre, typifying the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

(23:1)

Forming an intrinsic part of Babylon’s socio-economic structure, Tyre—like its sister city Sidon (vv 2, 12)—typifies Babylon’s shipping and mercantile establishment. Tyre’s merchants anciently founded trading colonies throughout the entire known world. Isaiah’s concept of a Greater Babylon—a composite entity that includes a worldwide shipping empire—informs John’s Babylon the Great and its fall, including the demise of Babylon’s seafaring enterprise (Revelation 18:11-24). The sirens of Tyre’s ships, which sounded joyfully at their departure, now wail at the prospect of having no ports of call.

2 Be dumbfounded, you inhabitants of the isles,who were amply replenishedby the traders of Sidon crossing the seas.3 The grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile,was her source of revenue upon the high seaswhen she became the merchant of nations.

The port city of Tyre that typifies the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah's hand of punishment, who destroys Greater Babylon and its shipping empire that the port city of Tyre typifies.

red

The port city of Tyre, typifying the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

(23:2–3)

Tyre’s and Sidon’s overnight destruction leaves people worldwide astonished and appalled. When Egypt’s grain, which enriched world traders, suddenly becomes unavailable, those who depend on it suffer its loss: “Up, and listen to my voice, O complacent women; you careless daughters, hear my words! In little more than a year you shall be in anguish, O carefree ones, for when the harvest is over, the produce shall fail to arrive” (Isaiah 32:9-10). Jehovah’s elect, on the other hand, prepare for that day: “Tell the righteous it shall be well with them; they shall eat the fruits of their own labors” (Isaiah 3:10).

4 Be dismayed, O Sidon, because the Sea,the mighty haven of the Sea, has declared,I no longer labor and bear children!I no longer rear young men or raise virgins!5 When the news of Tyre reaches Egypt,men will be in anguish at the report.

6 Move on to Tarshish lamenting,you inhabitants of the isles.7 Is this your festive city of ancient origin,whose feet led her to settle far-off lands?

The port city of Tyre that typifies the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah's hand of punishment, who destroys Greater Babylon and its shipping empire that the port city of Tyre typifies.

red

The port city of Tyre, typifying the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

(23:4–7)

As the mercantile arm of Isaiah’s Greater Babylon, Tyre is identified with the sea itself. Elsewhere portrayed as a power of chaos personified by the king of Assyria/Babylon, the Sea also characterizes the wicked in general (Isaiah 5:30; 11:15; 17:12; 51:10, 15; 57:20). Tyre’s ports of call in far-off lands (v 11), which once welcomed ocean freighters, perish together with she who gave them birth. The great seaports of the world—Tyre’s “children”—where sailors enjoyed leisure and amusements, are now unrecognizable and unapproachable. News of their decease causes worldwide lamentation.

8 Who devised this stratagem against Tyre,the imperial city,whose traders were princes,whose merchants the world’s celebrities?9 Jehovah of Hosts devised it,to make all glorying in excellence a profanity,and the world’s celebrities an utter execration.

The port city of Tyre that typifies the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah's hand of punishment, who destroys Greater Babylon and its shipping empire that the port city of Tyre typifies.

red

The port city of Tyre, typifying the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

(23:8–9)

While the world may question the wisdom of destroying an entire shipping industry, Israel’s God has another object in mind—to put down pride and commence a new civilization based on justice. Those who gained immense wealth by trading on the high seas, who lived like kings among the nations of the world, Jehovah humiliates for their godless conceit. Those who considered themselves above others, who took pride in their prestige and preeminence, he renders profane: “The haughty eyes of men shall be lowered and man’s pride abased; Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11).

10 Overflow your land like the Nile,O Daughter of Tarshish: the harbor is no more.11 Jehovah will stretch out his hand over the Seaand distress kingdoms;he will give orders concerning the merchant citythat her ports of haven be destroyed.12 He will say, You will frolic no more,O ravished virgin, Daughter of Sidon.Get up and cross over to Kittim,though even there you will find no rest.

The port city of Tyre that typifies the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah's hand of punishment, who destroys Greater Babylon and its shipping empire that the port city of Tyre typifies.

red

The port city of Tyre, typifying the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

(23:10–12)

Once seaport facilities are destroyed, people must rely on the land. But there, too, they “find no rest” (Isaiah 5:30; 8:22; 57:20-21). Jehovah’s stretching his hand over the Sea betokens the king of Assyria/Babylon’s destruction of Tyre, or that aspect of Greater Babylon which Tyre represents. Secondarily, drawing on the type of Moses’ stretching his hand over the Sea (Exodus 14:15-31), it alludes to the power of Jehovah’s servant to ultimately put down the archtyrant—the Sea (Isaiah 11:15). Common harlot imagery identifies Tyre with Babylon, who rules as “Mistress of Kingdoms” (Isaiah 47:1-15).

13 So too with the land of the Chaldeans,the people who founded Tyreb for shipping.Was it not the Assyrians who set up observatories,exposed its fortifications, and caused her downfall?14 Sound your sirens, O merchant ships;your haven is desolate!

The port city of Tyre that typifies the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah's hand of punishment, who destroys Greater Babylon and its shipping empire that the port city of Tyre typifies.

red

The port city of Tyre, typifying the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

(23:13–14)

It was the residents of Babylon—“the land of the Chaldeans”—who established the world’s seaports that Tyre symbolizes. As Jehovah’s Day of Judgment approaches, the Assyrians install surveillance devices to spy out Tyre’s strengths and weaknesses. When Assyria launches its destructive assault, Tyre—like all of Greater Babylon—experiences “downfall” or “ruin” (mappela) (Isaiah 47:11). With no place to dock, Tyre’s merchantmen flounder at sea, their calls for help going unheeded: “Jehovah of Hosts has a day in store . . . . against [all vessels at sea,] both merchant ships and pleasure craft” (Isaiah 2:12, 16).

15 In that day Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, the lifetime of a king. And at the end of seventy years, Tyre shall be as the harlot in the song:

16 Take a lyre and go about the town,O forgotten harlot.Play skillfully; sing song after song,that you may be remembered.

17 For after seventy years, Jehovah will revisit Tyre. And she will return to her trade and hire herself out to all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.18 Her merchandise and hire shall be consecrated to Jehovah; it shall not be hoarded or stored up. Her commerce shall provide for those who dwell in the presence of Jehovah, that they may eat their fill and be elegantly clothed.

The port city of Tyre that typifies the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, Jehovah's hand of punishment, who destroys Greater Babylon and its shipping empire that the port city of Tyre typifies.

red

The port city of Tyre, typifying the multinational entity of an end-time Greater Babylon with its shipping empire, which the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.

tan

(23:15–18)

Only after many years have elapsed during the millennial age does world trade make a comeback. This time, however, disbursements of products are based not on greed but on merit, such as providing for servants of Jehovah who dwell in his presence: “You shall be called the priests of Jehovah and referred to as the ministers of our God. You shall feed on the wealth of the nations and be gratified with their choicest provision” (Isaiah 61:6). Using the imagery of a former harlot whom people make the subject of derisive folksongs, Isaiah predicts Tyre’s return but also recalls her to mind as a warning.